The Opelousas courier., 1887-01-01

That we may emphasize and clearly ex
plain the relation the kidneys sustain to the
general health, and how much is dependent
upon them, we propose, m~etaphorlcally
speaking, to take one from the human body,
place it in the wasir-bowl before us, n ex-
anime it for the public benefit.
You will imagine that we have before us a
body shaped like a heal ], smooth and g~listen-
ing, abeutfour in;hes in length, two in width,
and one i'll thickness 1t ordinarily weighs
ia the adult male about five ounces, but i;
somewhat lighter in the female. A small
orsans you say. But understand, the body
of the average size man contains about ten
quarts of blood, of aghich erery drop passes
through these filters or seaOeTs, as they may
be called, many times q day as often as
through the heart, making O complete revo-
luton in three minutes. From the blood
they separate the waste material, working
away steadily night and day. sleeping or
waking, tireless as the heart itself, and fully
Of as much vital Importance; removing inn
purities from sixty-five gallons of blood each
hour, or about ~forty-nine barrels each day,
or 6, 1875 hogsheads a year! What q wonder
that the kidneys can last any length of time
under this prodigi0us strain, treated and
neglected as they are!
We stice this deli ate organ open length
wise with our knife, and will roughly de-
scribe its interior.
We find it to be of a reddish-brown color,
soft and easily torn; filled with hundreds of
little tubes, short ano threa like, starting
from the arteries, ending in a little tuft about
midway from the outside opening into a
cavity of considerable size, which is called
the pelvis or, roughly speaking, a sac, " hich
is for the purpose of holding the water to
further undergo publication before it passes
down from here into the u~reters, and SO on
to the outside of the body. These little tubes
are the filters which do their work auto
matically, and right here is WheTe the DIS
ease Of the kidney first begins.
Doing the vast amount of work which
they are obliged to, from the slightest irreg-
ularity in our habits, from cod, from high
living, from stimulants or a thousand and
one other causes which occur every day, they
become some what weakened in their nerve
force.
What is the result' Congestion OF stoppage
of the current of blood in the small blood
vessels surrounding them, which become
blocked; these delicate membranes are irri-
tated; Inflammation is set up, then pus is
formed, which collects in the pelvis or sae;
the tubes are at first partially, and soon are
totally unable to do their work. The pelvic
sac goes on distending with this corruption,
pressing upon the blood vessels. Ali this
time, remember, the blood, which is entering
the kidneys to be filtered, is passing through
this terrible, disgusting pns, for it cannot
take any other route!
Stop and think OF it for a moment! Do
yru realize the Importance, nay the vital ne
cessity, of having the kidneys in order! a
you expect Wien they are diseased OF Oh
structed, no matter how little, that you can
nave pure tlood and escape disease? 1t
would be iu-t as reasonable to expect, if a
pest-house were SIT across Broadway and
countless Thousands were compelled to go
through its pestiiential doors, an escape from
contagion and disease. as for one TO expect
the blood to escapepollution when o n:tantly
running through a diseased kidney.
Now, what is the result! Why, that the
blood takes up and deposits this poison as it
sweeps along into every organ, into every
inch of muscle, tissue, flesh and bone, from
your head to your feet. And whenever, from
hereditary influence CT otherwise, some part
of the body is weaker than another, a count
less train of disc ass is established, such as
consumption in weak lungs, dyspepsia where
there is a delicate stomach; nervousness, in
sanity, paralysis or heart disease in those
who have weak nerves.
The heart must soon feel the effects of the
poison, as it requires pure blood to keep it
IN right action. 1t increases its stroke in
number and force to compensate for the
natural stimulus wanting, in it's endeavor to
crowd the impure blood through this OBJ
struction, causing pain, palpitation, or an
out-of-breath feeling. Unnatural as this
forced labor is, the heart must soon falter,
becoming walker aud weaker until one day
it suddenly stops, and death from apparent
''heart disease" is the verdict. --